For you animal and wildlife folks

[PrimitiveTim]

There's a guy on youtube that has a huge show about captive bred snakes.  He has noticed the demise of animal planet and some other wildlife related networks and how they seldom show wildlife in a positive way.  Anyway, he has a vision for creating a youtube channel where there will be fresh wildlife and nature stuff made by people from all over the world. 

Please read his blog post about it and let me know what y'all think.  Please suggest topics, ask questions, and comment on what you think of it.  Right now I am working on a teaser for him to see if he'll have me be a part of this.  Thanks for looking.


His channel:  https://www.youtube.com/SnakeBytesTV

Blog Post:  http://snakebytes.tumblr.com/post/53595312328/animalbytestv

[JessaHein]

I like the YT channel and, from what I've seen on the blog, this could be a really cool thing.

If I can be so bold as to suggest a possible network opportunity, there is an Aussie guy I follow who is absolutely passionate about wildlife and has a very bold and entertaining way of educating people about it. His name is Andrew Ucles, (channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/AndrewUcles ) and he's a pretty stellar guy.

I do also like that just about anyone can submit something for this, which truly shares the passion, and it's not just limited to certain people and certain animals, etc. This gives a chance to educate a lot of people and to involve a lot of different climates and ecosystems and cultures, as well. Maybe I can submit something about our fearsome Finnish hedgehogs! (Just kidding, by the way, they aren't fearsome!  )

All in all, thanks for the share and good luck on the project!

[PrimitiveTim]

Yeah, I've heard of Ucles.  I think he's trying to get a bit bigger than just youtube stuff.  Also I think he takes enormous risks on some of the stuff he does.  He's a nut.  I think it would be cool to have him make videos but I'm not sure his vision and Brian's vision would line up.

[JessaHein]

Very true, Andrew is the big-risk-big-reward mentality type. I agree it might not line up, but in the least it could be something to spice it up with every now and again, though admittedly I do like the more 'Average Joe' spin where anybody could provide stuff, not just people who've got a name, you know? At any rate, it was just a suggestion. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes of this. :3

[PrimitiveTim]

Absolutely.  Anything he is involved in will certainly be spiced up.  So, what is it you want to see?

[JessaHein]

Personally, I like to see the kind of stuff where normal people or just really dedicated people pitch in to increase the effort to protect compromised species or places, spread the word and raise awareness, educate, those sorts of things. When I was in college, I did a few presentations on White-Nosed Bat syndrome in the US, particularly caves in Wisconsin. When I'm not bending sticks, I like to play in caves. And bats are an important part of those ecosystems and that disease devastates the bat pops.

Unrelated to bats, I saw an article a while back about giant stick bug insects that were thought to be extinct but infact had been hiding under one lonely little bush on a giant rock in the ocean for like... 80 years. That's the kind of stuff that I think is much more worth investing interest in, as opposed to some of the garbage TV execs are putting on the air these days, like your friend mentioned. (link for any who are interested in that, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2108736/Extinct-tree-lobster-alive-clinging-Pacific-rock-taller-Empire-State-Building.html )

*Puts down a soapbox.* I grew up with shows like Crocodile Hunter, and while that stuff was outlandish to me, it still taught me that passion about something could be entertaining and educating and entirely fulfilling. Just as I'm sure there are a fair amount of people that scoff at the thought of all of us here, cutting trees, carefully handmaking bows when there are lines and lines of more mechanically impressive bows at the sports' store, and yet inherently the craft that is the focus here is very entertaining and educating and clearly fulfilling.

All in all, I would just love to see stuff that promotes playing out in nature and seeing those animals. I grew up with technology side-by-side with me. But I still had that 'go out and play' mentality. I see less and less of that with a lot (not all) of the younger generations; they're all too busy with cell phones and iPads to enjoy what took hundreds of thousands of years to form. Sometimes, all it takes is a single thing, a spark, to ignite the flames of interest and set it blazing in the heart. I would love to see such sparks from you and your friend's project. I can tell he is passionate. I think this could be great. *Puts the soapbox away.*

Sorry for rattlin' off like that!

[JW_Halverson]

Next time I would appreciate it if you would ask to use my soapbox!   

I put in about 30 hours a week volunteering with the non-profit I helped start, the Black HIlls Raptor Center.  We take live raptors into classrooms to destroy myths and replace them with science based conservation messages.  We are not above using the "Oh WOW!" factor or the "EWWW! GROSS!" to get attention, but that is just the opening to get the conservation message across.  We are probably one of the only Pro-Hunting raptor centers in the country!

Oddly enough, our beginnings involved snakes and other reptiles in the form of Reptile Gardens!  (Insert HUGE public thank you to the fine folks at RG! Best educational attraction in the Black Hills)

Sometimes, all it takes is a single thing, a spark, to ignite the flames of interest and set it blazing in the heart.

For me it was about age 10.  My parents were buying me a set of Natural History books thru the local grocery store.  You know the promo materials, buy $x in groceries and get this book for $1!  Somewhere around the 7th book in a 20 book set there was a photograph of a male American kestrel.  I stopped looking at the pics and began reading.  Forty years later, I have a male kestrel that lives in my spare bedroom in the winter when it is too cold to be outside in his weathering yard and I am hoping to be that "single thing, a spark, to ignite the flames" for the next generation.   Same with making and giving away a dozen or so kids bows a year, just sparkin' for all I am worth.

[JessaHein]

Oh man, that's good stuff, JW! I've always loved raptors and wanted to get more involved with them when I was younger. And what you do is exactly the kind of stuff that I love to hear about! When I was in highschool, I volunteered at the local wildlife sanctuary and I remember they had an osprey that was like a vomit sniper. It was almost like he enjoyed trying to hit people with his upchuck. But man, birds of prey are beautiful creatures indeed...

I had a lot of ambition when I was a kid, but I had the drawback that my parents thought everything I was interested in was stupid, which is why I was never allowed to pursue archery in my youth, except for a brief stint in highschool, where I did exceptionally well. That's another thing that would help the world out a fair bit, if more parents were supportive of their children's interests. Not saying that all parents are like that, but I do know a few who think their kids are interested in useless things and that's a shame. Ah, but that's not something we can control, so I won't rant again...

Ahem. And I promise I'll ask about the soapbox next time!

[JW_Halverson]

I had a lot of ambition when I was a kid, but I had the drawback that my parents thought everything I was interested in was stupid, which is why I was never allowed to pursue archery in my youth, except for a brief stint in highschool, where I did exceptionally well.

Of course!  Girls can't do anything, right?   

I love teaching young girls to shoot bows, they inevitably embarrass the boys busy telling ME how THEY shoot!     Inevitably the girls and I tell the boys they need to learn to shoot like a girl instead of spending all their time looking for lost arrows beyond the target!!!  BWAHAHAHA!

[Thesquirrelslinger]

I have always liked raptors...
Owls are pretty dang cool birds. I see quite a few in my neighborhood.

[PrimitiveTim]

Of course!  Girls can't do anything, right?   

I love teaching young girls to shoot bows, they inevitably embarrass

Right!  Made my cousin a bow and she was shooting about as well as me within an hour.  Never shot a bow before that.

I have always liked raptors...

I'm pretty sure there is going to be a bird guy that will film for this.

[WillS]

I'm quite surprised that you support Brian Barckyc, being a genuine snake lover!  I can't watch his shows due to the way he keeps and maintains his livestock.  Have you seen his retics?  The guy keeps adult Retics tucked into boxes that give them zero movement and zero temperature gradient, and claims it makes them eat better.  Plus all his snakes are ridiculously power fed so they breed quicker.  He antagonises snakes to get them to bite which invariably harms the snake as well which really sucks!

I love the ideas he has, and I have respect for him as a snake keeper/breeder myself for trying to dispel myths and phobias and ignorance surrounding snakes, but I'd rather see somebody else take his ideas and do them as I can't agree with somebody so focused on making money from animals being the face of an animal awareness project.

[PrimitiveTim]

I'm quite surprised that you support Brian Barckyc, being a genuine snake lover!  I can't watch his shows due to the way he keeps and maintains his livestock.  Have you seen his retics?  The guy keeps adult Retics tucked into boxes that give them zero movement and zero temperature gradient, and claims it makes them eat better.  Plus all his snakes are ridiculously power fed so they breed quicker.  He antagonises snakes to get them to bite which invariably harms the snake as well which really sucks!

I admit I'm not really into keeping snakes as pets so much but it is very easy for me to support him.  As far as keeping snakes tucked in boxes I really don't think it's a huge deal.  In nature snakes find the most cramped and secure places to hide and don't move unless they have to because moving costs energy and makes them vulnerable.  I don't really understand power feeding.  He never forces the snakes to eat.  They eat on their own.  Yeah, he offers them more food than they would ever see in the wild but if it was unhealthy for his snakes then it wouldn't be profitable to do that.  As far as the antagonizing of snakes... yeah, he does exercise their defense response, possibly too much but that's totally natural.  Also with cleaning and stuff they're going utilize their defense displays as well so it's not like it never happens in captivity.  We've got to remember these are snakes, not puppies.

[WillS]

I agree with some of that, but as a snake owner myself, and having between 20 and 40 snakes in my house at any one time, the "snakes don't need to move" argument just isn't valid unfortunately.  I've found through experience that snakes of various species will behave in a much calmer way and be much more placid and easy to feed if they have plenty of room to move, climb and most importantly of all thermoregulate.  If a snake can't move from a cool temperature to a warm temperature depending on what it's doing (feeding, basking etc) it just won't live as long.

Power feeding is probably Brian's worst trait - a breeder at his level does need to make sacrifices in terms of space in order to maximise profit so that's an each-to-his-own issue, but he over-feeds his snakes by a huge amount.  You don't need to force a snake to eat in order to power feed it.  A snake is an opportunistic hunter - given the opportunity, it will take food when it can.  That's how they survive such long periods without food in the wild.  The only time a snake will ever refuse food is if it's just eaten, or is unhealthy.  Generally speaking, a royal python (his main interest) needs feeding about once a month in order to be healthy, and live as long as possible.  He feeds them a large prey item once a week, if not more during breeding periods in order to massively increase body weight and size so that their egg yield is as large as possible.  While this has no immediate negative impact on the snake, the life span is shortened by a huge amount which just isn't an issue for a large-scale breeder like Brian.  The turn over is quick anyway, as a python can't be expected to breed constantly into old age.  Once it's prime years are over, it's done.  If he's power feeding (and he definitely is!) the snake will produce massive clutches for a few years, then will be unable to continue.  Also the neonate snakes are more likely to develop neurological problems in later life (a long time after they've left BHB) and it's just bad practice in general. 

I can also say for a fact that none of my snakes ever utilise their defense displays to me.  I clean them regularly, handle them in order to maintain health, and often move them around.  I've been bitten once in about 4 years.  He clearly agitates them for no reason other than to make an exciting YouTube video, and personally I think that's a bit daft.

I don't wanna turn your thread (which I support on the main issue by the way!) into an off-topic rant so I apologise if I've already done so!  I'll leave it at that, and hope that lots of people get involved in this project. 

[PrimitiveTim]

Yeah, I understand your points.  His crew does blatantly get bit.  Is it bad to mess with a snake and have it bite you?  Ya it does stresses the snake but nobody is going to watch a show that is totally politically correct all the time.  Not like he's intentionally stressing the same snake over and over.   This discussion should probably have turned into PMs a few posts ago. lol